St James' Park: Newcastle United FC

In the city of Newcastle football is considered to be akin to a religion, so it’s somewhat suitable that St. James’ Park towers over the city like a cathedral, casting a shadow over all that sits below it. It has the largest capacity in the North-East and has been a location for football matches since 1880. Newcastle themselves have been in residence there since 1892 when the club was formed.

Over the course of their history the club have won four league championships, six FA Cups, the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969 and the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2006. Unfortunately for the club the majority of their success came before the first world war, including one of their FA Cups and three of their top-flight titles. The last major domestic trophy they picked up was the FA Cup in 1955.

Stats

St James' Park Stats

Year Opened

1892

Capacity

52,405

Average Attendance

48,961

Record Attendance

68,386 (Newcastle v Chelsea (1930))

Pitch Size

105 x 68 (7140)

Nickname

St James', Gallowgate, SJP

Owner

Newcastle United

Sponsor

Sports Direct

Clubs Hosted

Newcastle Rangers, Newcastle West End, Newcastle East End, Newcastle United

St James' Park Seating Plan & Where to Sit

There is an odd look to St. James’ Park when viewed from both the air and some positions on the ground. This is because the ground is asymmetrical and there is a difference in height between different parts of the ground. Both the Milburn and Leazes Stands are double tiered and have a level of executive boxes between them, whilst the East and Gallowgate Stands are both single-tiered.

The Gallowgate End - Officially known as the Newcastle Brown Ale Stand because of sponsorship, the Gallowgate is at the Southern End of the ground.

The Leazes End - Also known as The Sir John Hall Stand, this is at the Northern end of the ground and is where the away fans are sat. That means that there is often a good atmosphere here.

The Milburn Stand - The main stand in the ground and named after the 1950s Newcastle star Jackie Milburn.

The East Stand - This is the smallest of all four stands at St. James’ Park and is named The East Stand for obvious reasons, though there was discussion to rename it The Sir Bobby Robson Stand after his death.

Newcastle United Ticket Prices

Newcastle United are one of the few clubs in the country that don’t have their tickets prices as a matter of public record. They aren’t on their website, they won’t release the information over the phone and won’t give any clues out by email. It’s actually such an issue that local newspapers have done investigation work into the matter and believe the secrecy could be because it would be cheaper to buy individual match tickets than it would be to buy a season ticket.

Because of the secrecy there isn’t much we can say here. According to the BBC’s recent ‘price of football’ review the cheapest adult ticket is £27 and the the most expensive is £45. Past that, you’ll have to see what prices you are offered on a match by match basis.

How To Get Newcastle United Tickets

You can buy tickets through the club’s official website, but you’ll have to sign up to become an official supporter in order to do that. You can call the club’s box office too as well as drop in to the physical box office at St. James’ Park. On the day of the game you might see people offering to sell you tickets near the ground but we’d suggest you avoid them. For starters there’s no guarantee that the tickets will be real but even if they are it will probably go against the club’s terms and conditions to use someone else’s ticket.

Getting To St James' Park

Newcastle isn’t exactly central London, so it isn’t exactly simple to get there, but it isn’t all that complicated either. The fact that the stadium is in dominating position in the centre of the city also means that it’s easy to find once you reach the city itself.

train - Newcastle Central Station is where you’ll be heading if you’re looking for a mainline station. You’ll then have a 15 minute or so walk from the station to the ground. There is also a Metro line in Newcastle and if you get that you’ll want to head to the St. James’ station or Haymarket, depending on where you’re travelling from.

Bus - There are two main bus stations in Newcastle; Haymarket and Eldon Square. These stops are both near to the ground and are serviced by buses from the city centre. Be aware, though, that Stagecoach buses don’t stop there.

Car - If you’re coming from the North-West then you’ll want to take the M6 and then there A69 to Newcastle. If you’re coming from the South then you’ll probably be looking at the M1 and the A1.

By Air - Newcastle Airport is located about seven miles from the ground. There is a Metro station at the airport that will take you to within walking distance of the stadium.

Taxi - A taxi from the airport, for example, would cost you about £25 and will take around 15 minutes to get there.

Parking Near St James' Park

The city centre location of St. James’ Park means that parking is tricky, especially near to the stadium. There are public car parks near to the ground, though, and there will be one or two places you might be able to get parked up in.

Useful Resources

St James' Park Hotels

Newcastle has a thriving night scene and is a popular city for students, so there are a lot of hotel options around the place. We’ve picked some that are quite close to the ground for you here, though.

Half a mile from the ground sits this fun looking, exciting hotel with 98 rooms and a restaurant and bar. There is also a snack bar and a meeting room, should you like that sort of thing. More details.

The Mercure Hotel is part of the Mercure chain, so you know the sort of quality you’re going to get there. There’s a bar and lounge, self-parking and even wedding services, should you wish to tie up your match going experience with your wedding day. More details.

Pubs & Bars Near St James' Park

Newcastle is a brilliant city with a tremendous atmosphere and loads of places to have a drink. They don’t all offer a welcome to football supporters, though, so we’ve picked out a few choice locations for you.

The Percy Arms

Percy Street, NE1 7RW (0191 222 1412)

A traditional pub in the heart of the city, The Percy Arms is a welcoming pub with a good atmosphere. There are loads of televisions including some that show the games in 3D. Everyone’s welcome there.

The Old George Inn

Old George Yard, Cloth Market, NE1 1EZ (0191 260 3035)

Food is served every day of the week here and there are good drinks on offer too. On top of that it’s also the oldest pub in the city, so you can soak up a bit of history whilst you drink in your pre-match pint.

The Hancock

2A Hancock Street, NE2 4PU (0191 281 5653)

The Hancock is a pub that’s popular with students, so it’s probably one for the younger ones amongst you. They serve food, show sports and offer a fun atmosphere, though, so if you’re happy enough to mix it with people with long hair who haven’t showered in a while then here you go.

Facilities

Though prices for alcohol are considered to be a bit pricey at St. James’ Park, you’ll find the bar staff friendly and the amount of kiosks you can go to plentiful. You’ll also be able to get some tasty food and you can place a bet in a number of different places on the concourses.

Prices

Programme: 3.00

Pie: 3.20

Cup of tea: 2.30

Hospitality

There are a significant number of hospitality options available at St. James’ Park. From suites that are designed do invite as many people as possible into the ground through to private boxes that offer you a degree of privacy and personalisation. We’re not going to cover all of the packages here, but we’ll give you a taster on the different options you can choose from.

The Sir Bobby Robson Suite is dedicated to one of the club’s finest sons and you’ll find the walls decorated with pictures of him. You’ll get a complimentary bar, on site parking, extensive a la carte eating options and access to seating in the director’s box. You’ll also be entered into a a match day competition and get an exclusive corporate gift.

If you’d like a more relaxed atmosphere then perhaps The Heroes Club will be for you. You’ll still get the director’s box seating and on-site car parking but you’ll also get a gourmet three-course meal, a cheeseboard and pre and post-match entertainment, normally featuring a former or current Newcastle player.

Private Hire

Like tours and hospitality options, Mike Ashley knows there’s money to be found in private hire and so he’s set St. James’ Park up to be one of the premier venues in the North-East. The club offers standard, deluxe and daily delegate packages for your convenience, meaning whatever type of event you want to host you’ll almost certainly be able to do it at the home of Newcastle United.

You can book conference suites for big meetings or events, then there are also executive boxes that can accommodate between 10 and 40 people so they’re ideal for smaller breakout meetings or smaller events in their own right. St. James’ Park also features the Bamburgh Suite, which is the largest dining space in Newcastle.

Whether you’re looking to launch a new product, hold an exhibition, host a conference or even invite people to a fashion show, you’ll be able to do it at Newcastle’s home ground. You can even hold a prom night there, should that take your fancy!

Stadium Tours & Museum

Owing to Mike Ashley’s desire to get as much money as possible from his Newcastle United ownership, there are a number of different tours you can do at St. James’ Park. The regular tour takes in the highest point of view at the stadium, the home dressing room, the dugouts and more. It costs £15 for an adult, £12 for concessions and £8 for juniors. The tours take place every day at 11.30am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm or at 10.30am on match days.

The club also runs Legends Tours from time to time, with a different former Newcastle player leading the tour around certain parts of the stadium. It will also include a Q & A session with the player in the club’s media suite. These tours take place randomly depending on the availability of the legend, so keep your eye out for them. The price also changes depending on the legend.

Last but not least comes the Roof Top Tour, an exciting and sometimes mildly terrifying tour of the very top of St. James’ Park. It’s described by the club as being more of a sightseeing view than a tour of the stadium, so make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into before you sign up for this one.

About Newcastle United

For a time Newcastle United were considered to be most people’s second team in the Premier League and there was genuine sadness amongst plenty of non-Newcastle fans when they got relegated. That is in part due to Kevin Keegan’s time at the club, when he had them playing tremendous attacking football and came within a whisker of taking the title away from Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United.

In recent times, though, plenty of people have lost their love of the team because of the way it is run by its owner, Mike Ashley. They’ve been through some tough times, with managers like Sam Allardyce, Chris Hughton and John Carver struggling to turn around their fortunes. Gone are the days of Keegan’s attacking football and Sir Bobby Robson’s classily run club. Newcastle fans are some of the most put upon in the league yet plenty of people are still on their side.

St James' Park History

St. James’ Park is the oldest and largest stadium in North-East England and has been the home of Newcastle since the club’s inception. Football was played there as far back as 1880, however, with Newcastle Rangers, Newcastle West End FC and Newcastle East End FC all taking time to kick a ball around the turf there.

The ground hasn’t just been used for league and cup football, though. In the 2012 Summer Olympics it was used as a stadium for the football matches, whilst in 2015 it was one of the locations for the Rugby World Cup.